Welcome to the free weekly edition of Popular Information — written by me, Judd Legum.
You can support independent journalism that holds the powerful accountable — and get Popular Information four times per week — with a paid subscription. It's just $6 per month or $50 for an entire year.
Since Popular Information launched in July 2018, it has consistently demonstrated the ability to break through the noise and create change — from Tucker Carlson to Steve King to Cindy-Hyde Smith to the election fraud scandal in North Carolina.
Popular Information is just getting started. Even more is possible with your support.
Contact me with any questions at judd@popular.info.
The long conn
On Friday, Popular Information reported that Foxconn, which secured $4 billion in taxpayer incentives from Wisconsin, was abandoning its plans to build an LCD factory in the state.
"In Wisconsin, we’re not building a factory. You can’t use a factory to view our Wisconsin investment," Louis Woo, a spokesman for the Taiwanese electronics giant, said.
Woo said that, instead, Foxconn would build a research and development hub and "three-quarters of Foxconn’s eventual jobs will be in R&D and design."
The news did not go over well at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Trump spoke personally to Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou. After the conversation, Foxconn released a statement saying it was "moving forward with our planned construction of a Gen 6 [LCD] fab facility." According to the new statement, it will be an "advanced manufacturing facility as well as a hub of high technology innovation for the region."
Trump celebrated the decision.
But while the new statement appears on the surface to be another dramatic reversal, it is more notable for what it doesn't say. It fits a pattern of strategic ambiguity that Trump favors to solve his political problems.
What Foxconn's new statement doesn't say
While Foxconn's statement is ideally suited to generate positive headlines, it is light on details. Among the topics not covered:
1. When the project will be completed
2. The size of the manufacturing facility
3. How much capital will be invested
4. How many jobs will be created
5. How many jobs will be in manufacturing versus R&D
A close reading of the statement reveals that Foxconn's position hasn't changed much. On Wednesday, the company announced they were changing the focus of the facility. There would still be some manufacturing, but the focus would be on research and development.
The biggest issue, it seems, was that on Wednesday Woo said Foxconn would no longer consider the project a "factory." The only thing that has changed is that Foxconn is back to calling it a manufacturing facility. There is no further information on the focus of the facility, the size of the investment, or the jobs that will be created.
What Trump (probably) told Gou
We don't know what Trump told Gou. But we do have an example of how Trump prefers to solve thorny political problems. A transcript of Trump's conversation with Mexican president Peña Nieto in January 2017 was leaked to the Washington Post.
Nieto said that Mexico would not pay for a border wall. Trump didn't focus on trying to convince Nieto otherwise but discussed a strategy to avoid political fallout. Trump's approach was for Nieto to say something ambiguous to defuse the controversy.
So what I would like to recommend is – if we are going to have continued dialogue – we will work out the wall. They are going to say, “who is going to pay for the wall, Mr. President?” to both of us, and we should both say, “we will work it out.” It will work out in the formula somehow. As opposed to you saying, “we will not pay” and me saying, “we will not pay.”
...I am willing to say that we will work it out, but that means it will come out in the wash and that is okay. But you cannot say anymore that the United States is going to pay for the wall. I am just going to say that we are working it out.
Trump appears to be working the same strategy here. Foxconn did not say anything substantively different on Friday than they did on Wednesday. The company did not make any new commitments.
The man defending Northam
Democrats and Republicans called for the resignation of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D) after the discovery of his 1984 medical school yearbook, which featured a picture of two men -- one in blackface and another in KKK garb.
On Friday, Northam released a video apologizing for appearing in the photo and asking for forgiveness. On Saturday, he reversed course in a surreal press conference in which he denied being in the photo but admitted to appearing in blackface in a San Antonio dance competition.
Northam said he was dressed as Michael Jackson and won the competition. He was preparing to demonstrate a moonwalk before his wife told him it was "inappropriate."
Republicans and Democrats in Virginia are demanding Northam resign. But one man is standing by him: the Democratic leader of the Virginia Senate, Dick Saslaw.
Saslaw's defense
Saslaw told the Washington Post that Northam's actions were excusable because most people made similar mistakes in college. (The picture, as previously noted, appeared in Northam's medical school yearbook.)
While it’s in very poor taste, I would think no one in the General Assembly would like their college conduct examined. I would hate to have to go back and examine my two years in the Army. Trust me. I was 18 years old and I was a handful, okay? His life since then has been anything but. It’s been a life of helping people, and many times for free.
Saslaw also defended Northam to the New York Times, suggesting everyone in the state legislature had equivalent skeletons in their past. "Which of the 140 of us would want to have revealed what we were doing in our early to mid-20s?" Saslaw asked.
Saslaw's past
Saslaw has a history of racial controversy. In 2003, he nearly resigned his leadership post "because of intense criticism by party colleagues over his role in a racially divisive judgeship battle."
Saslaw was accused of teaming up with Republicans to railroad the reappointment of Judge Verbena Askew, the first African-American woman on a Virginia circuit court. (Askew was accused of sexual harassment.) During the debate over Askew, "he contradicted two black colleagues and declared on the Senate floor that the seven-hour confirmation hearing Askew endured had been fair." His comments, and his decision to vote against Askew, provoked "blistering criticism from African American and other colleagues."
Saslaw said he would step down because he had lost the support of his caucus. But he ultimately stayed in his position.
In 2016, an African-American Virginia Senator, L. Louise Lucas (D), temporarily aligned with Senate Republicans. Lucas described the move as a protest against Saslaw who she said, "passed over black senators for key committee slots, [took] their votes for granted, and left them to fend for themselves in partisan and personal battles with Republicans."
"I’m getting tired of being treated like I’m invisible," Lucas said.
Saslaw claimed he "pushed hard for Lucas and the rest of the black caucus while juggling many other responsibilities."
"It’s no state secret — I can be a little insensitive from time to time. Sometimes people feel ignored. . . . [But] I have an impeccable civil rights voting record," Saslaw said.
Saslaw's present
Saslaw is currently facing a primary challenge from Yasmine Taeb, a Muslim woman. The last time he had an opponent in the primary was 1979.
According to a report in The Intercept, Saslaw claimed at an event last September that Taeb could not win because there were too many white people in the district.
Saslaw said Taeb “‘can’t win in a district like this,’ and then he went off spouting all these facts about his district,” said one person who was there, requesting anonymity because of their relationship with the senator. Saslaw pointed out that the district is “60 percent white, it was some percentage of older Virginians, it was some percentage of Christians,” the source said.
A spokesman for Saslaw claimed the conversation didn't happen. The district is actually 60% non-white.
Thanks for reading!
You can support independent journalism that holds the powerful accountable — and get Popular Information four times per week — with a paid subscription. It's just $6 per month or $50 for an entire year.
